Thank You President-Elect Obama (An Open Letter from a Single Mom)

My heart is singing right now because now my 8 year old son has the chance to become the President of the United States of America one day. If not the president of the USA, perhaps the president of a corporation or the president of his own company.

My son is a struggling second grader at Manning Oaks Elementary. He is a little black boy who seems to have so many odds stacked against him. I am a single mother and like your mother I want the best for my son. I want to see him rise up and become a great man. I showed him your picture today and he saw clips of you on the news. I told him that your name is Barak Obama and that you are our new President. He asked me if he could do that too and I proudly and honestly told him Yes! Yes he can grow up and become president because today we have seen that in America it is possible for a black man to be elected by the people, for the people.

I am thankful to you Mr. Obama for being courageous enough to share your story. Thank you for never giving up amidst all the mudslinging and hateful rhetoric. Your eloquence and intelligence, your firm commitment to rise above the fray has inspired me to teach my son to do the same. I may have to struggle day after day to motivate my son to get his lessons just like your mother did for you. I may have to cry many days and nights because I am exhausted, but I will. I have a dream though, a vision of greatness for my son just like I am sure your mother had for you.

You have made your mother proud and have proven that the sons of single moms do not all grow up to be thugs and drug dealers. They don’t have to be behind bars but, like you, they can pass the bar and go on to teach others how to do the same. The son of a single mother can become the President of the United States of America. A little black boy with wide-eyed dreams, and who now wants me to buy him books, can be whatever he wants to be.

So thank you again Mr. Obama—President-Elect Obama for standing strong. For listening to your mother and for being the change you wanted to see in the world. You have inspired me, you have inspired the world and we stand behind you to re-build America so that my son can have a better future!